Grand Canyon Plane Crash Victims Were 4 Belgians
The victims of a plane crash that killed everyone on board at the Grand Canyon were identified Sunday as four visitors from Belgium.
The pilot was 29-year-old Dedier Brullemans, the Coconino County Sheriff’s office said.
The passengers were identified as Olivier Brullemans, 25; Savine Lory, 25, and Yves Krier, 30. They had rented a single-engine plane in Mesa, Ariz., but it wasn’t known when they arrived at Grand Canyon National Park, park spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said.
The Cessna 172 crashed and burned at 8:55 a.m. Saturday after the pilot called Grand Canyon airport and reported trouble gaining altitude. The crash site was on a highway 1 1/2 miles north of the park entrance at the canyon’s South Rim.
On Sunday, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board inspected the site, where the plane’s tail and fuselage lay amid charred brush. Based on witness accounts, authorities believe the pilot was trying to make an emergency landing on the highway.
The plane was bound for Page, Ariz., where an air show was being held Saturday, Smith said.
It was the second fatal crash in two months at the park. On Aug. 2, the pilot of a private, single-engine plane was killed when the aircraft crashed and burned in the canyon.
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